The forum provided an opportunity for speakers, panelists, attendees, and students to engage on a series of critically important topics impacting the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms for international criminal violation.

2017 Conference Program:

The U.S. Role in Accountability for International Atrocity Crimes

 

This panel examined the U.S. role in advancing justice and accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, with a special focus on the work, evolution, and leadership of the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice and Office of War Crimes Issues.

Jane Stromseth (Moderator), Professor of Law, Georgetown Law, and former Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice

Diane Orentlicher, Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University, and former Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice.                                                                                                                                                    

Pierre-Richard Prosper, Partner, Arent Fox, and former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (invited).

Stephen Rapp, Distinguished Fellow at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Prevention of Genocide and at the Hague Institute for Global Justice, and former Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice

David Scheffer, Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law, and Director, Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern University, and former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues

Clint Williamson, Senior Director for Rule of Law, Governance, and Security at The McCain Institute, and Professor of Practice at the Sandra Day O’Connor Law School at Arizona State University, and former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues

The International Criminal Court: Assessing its Role and Impact

 

This panel explored the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s role in the developing system of global criminal justice, examining debates and empirical evidence regarding the ICC’s accomplishments, impacts, and legitimacy, as well as challenges confronting the Court and critiques of the Court’s work.

David Luban (Moderator), University Professor in Law and Philosophy, Georgetown University.

John Bellinger, Partner, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, and former Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State, and former Legal Adviser to the National Security Council

Richard Dicker, Director, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch Charles Jalloh, Professor of Law, Florida International University, and Member, International Law Commission

Jane Stromseth, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law, and former Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice

Jennifer Trahan, Clinical Associate Professor, The Center for Global Affairs, New York University School of Professional Studies  John Washburn, Director and Convener for the American Non-governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC)

Keynote Address

 

William Treanor (Introduction), Dean of Georgetown Law

Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Keynote Address), Chief Justice of The Gambia, and former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals

Innovative Models of Justice, Capacity-Building, and Empowerment

 

This panel explored innovative models of justice, including a range of domestically-based tribunals and hybrid courts, as well as efforts to document atrocities, build capacity, empower, and engage more effectively with directly affected communities.

Anna Cave (Moderator), Director of the Ben Ferencz International Justice Initiative at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Former Principal Deputy in the Office of Global Criminal Justice at the U.S. Department of State                                                                                                                                                                               

Sofia Candeias, Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, Criminal Law and Judicial Advisory Service, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations

David M. Crane, Founding Chief Prosecutor, Special Court For Sierra Leone, and Director, Syrian Accountability Project, and Principal, Justice Consultancy International, LLC.

Charles Jalloh, Professor of Law, Florida International University and Member, International Law Commission

David Mandel-Anthony, Senior Advisor, Office of Global Criminal Justice, U.S. Department of State

Susana SaCouto, Professorial Lecturer-in-Residence and Director, War Crimes Research Office, Washington College of Law, American University